GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Panthers put together an impressive second half to run away with an 18-point road victory against Aquinas College. Seniors Kevin Rich and Nick Gamble each played a major role in the win. Rich notched a near triple double and Gamble passed the 1,000 point milestone for his career.

THE BASICS
Final Score: #8 Davenport-82 | Aquinas-64
Location: Grand Rapids, Mich.
Records: Davenport 15-5 (9-3) | Aquinas 10-10 (6-6)
 
POINTS PER HALF
First Half: DU-38 | Aquinas-36
Second Half: DU-44 | Aquinas-28
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Aquinas duo of Jake Bullock and Ryan Schall gave DU some problems in the opening half, they combined for 20 points while shooting 8/17 from the floor. Senior's Rich and Gamble responded with 21 combined points of their own while shooting 6/11 from the field. Both teams traded buckets and stops during the half. Aquinas was riding the adrenaline rush of having a home crowd behind them. Davenport stuck it out through some of the Saints runs and went into half with a two-point lead after a buzzer beating lay-up by Robbie Bramhill.

The Panthers came out in the second half and stepped up their game tremendously. The team scored 44 points, shot 45% from the field and had eight assists. All of this offensive success came while holding the Saints to just 28 points in the second half and held their leading scorer Bullock to seven points on 14 shots. The momentum shifted in the Panthers favor after Bramhill knocked in a corner three-pointer that forced a timeout. Bramhill then scored a lay-up, two free throws and a baseline jumper over the next five DU possessions to bring the lead to 11 points with 11 minutes to play. Over the rest of the half the Panthers executed on the offensive and defensive end of the basketball.

Rich almost had a triple double with 21 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists. On a more impressive note he had a double double in the second half alone, with ten points and ten rebounds. He also added four steals during the contest. Bramhill finished with 16 points on 6/11 from the field and grabbed eight rebounds. Wes Webbert scored 13 points on a solid 4/5 from the field.

Gamble surpassed the 1,000 career point milestone tonight when he hit a free throw in the second half. He currently sits at 1,004 points and is only the sixth player in program history to reach the mark. He scored 18 points and shot 6/11 from the field, all while grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out three assists.

UP NEXT
Davenport gears up to host UM-Dearborn on Wednesday for another important conference game. The game is set to start at 7:30 p.m.